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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-12-09, Page 22munit Chameleon: fashion accessories *Entertainment *Feature *Religion *Family *More SECTION GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1987 Karen Palmer making waves in Toronto fashion industry EDITOR'S NOTE: The following story is an abbreviated version of an article which appeared in The Toronto Star. It is the first in a new feature series on former Goderich residents who become involved in in- teresting careers or activities after leav- ing town. With help from our readers, The Signal -Star hopes to track down other former residents whose stories would be of interest to area residents. If you can pro- vide us with information of this nature, please contact the paper at 524-2614, or drop us a note, at P.O Box 220, Goderich, Ont., N7A 4B6. Former Goderich resident, Karen Palmer is making a name for herself in the fashion industry. Palmer, daughter of Goderich Mayor Eileen Palmer, is owner of the Chameleon wardrobe accessories label. In a recent interview with the Toronto Star's fashion writer Nancy Hastings, Palmer said, "Just as chameleons alter their appearance to suit their environ- ment, accessories will alter a look to suit a particular occasion, or mood." She added that accessories remain the most affor- dable way to update'a look. Palmer holds a degree in urban plann- ing. She made her first foray into fashion with custom clothing design as a sales rep for Canadian fashion designers Paul Cor- nish and Shelley Walsh. Three years ago, she turned an avocation for jewelry design into a full-time vocation, and began marketing her own jewelry and ac- cessories under the name Chameleon. Within a single seasou,,, Chameleon's sales had doubled, then "exploded" six months later. Palmer's husband Marty Baechler, a former professional musician and band manager, joined the business. In creative cahoots, the enterprising pair ventured from jewelry into belts last year."Our timing was just right," recalls Baechler. "The fall of '86 was the strongest season belts had seen in years." Today, belts represent 40 per cent of Chameleon's accessory business. What makes Palmer's belts so good? The workmanship, for starters. Because Palmer - described as an unrelenting perfectionist - began as a jewelry maker, she designs her own hardware. "This gives us a huge advantage," Baechler said. "We don't have to wait on a buckle manufactur- ing company to interpret a current trend a season later." Fashion editors currently clamor for Chameleon's crescent-shaped, gold, satin- . finished half-moon that buckles a wide lamb suede contoured, belt, mocking the signature artwear accessories look of American designer Donna Karan. According to sotirces at the Ottawa Holt Renfrew store, Mila Mulroney recently chose Chameleon's black lamb suede ver- sion over Karan's, claiming it was of .bet- ter quality. Equally indicative of Chameleon's status as fine belt -makers is their selection of belts behind glass at Birks in the Toron- to Eaton Centre , and a large selection at Bally Shoes. Here's a tip from the ex- perts when buying a belt."Whereas, most people want to do a belt up to the last hole because it makes them feel skinny," Palmer said, "most belts are sized to be done up on the middle hole, because it's balanced. That's how they'll look best." Super subs extra baloney You've probably heard that our federal government is planning on spending $8 billion to buy a dozen or so nuclear sub- marines to patrol the Arctic Circle. On the surface it sounds straightforward enough but there are a few problemsin- °herent in the project as there almost always are when you mix billions of tax dollars, nuclear fission and a trillion metric mountains of ice. First of all, $8 -billion dollars is a wad of money. Eight -billion is actually 8,000 -million dollars with a total of nine zeros, three commas and enough appeal to make the Sultan of Brunei sit up and beg. Independent experts predict the total price tag for the project will be much more than $8 -billion because the defense department forgot to include, among other things, the cost of gas and docking facilities. Don't you just hate that? You shell out $500 -million for a sub and when you get it home there's no place to park it and when you want to go somewhere you've got to ask Dad for $76,000 to fill the tank. Bit let's for the sake of argument assume that the Arctic sub project will cost only $8 -billion, that it'll come in on time and that the subs won't leak. While we're on a roll, let's also assume that none of this money will find its way into the pockets of the "P.C. Pals of Patronage," that Brian never fibs and that before he hides them, the Easter bunny paints those coloured eggs all by his widdle self.' Okay. So assuming everything is on 'the up and up' (and isn't that the kind of thing movies and miracles could be made of?) there is yet another question. Who needs nuclear subs? Surely not Canada. If it's the oil and the minerals under the Arctic ice cap we're trying to protect, why that's patently absurd. Under the Free Trade Agreement, the United States gets all our natural resources anyway. Let them patrol the Arctic! The Arctic. Have you seen what's up there? I have. There's nothing up there but ice and this great big brass bolt the size of Ellesmere Island. Really. Right smack in the middle of the Arctic, imbed- ded in the roof of the world is this gigan- tic, highly -polished brass bolt. The bolt of course is attached to the curved brass arm which is in turn attached to the base which allows the globe to rotate when you spin it with you hand. Remove the bolt, and all that's left is ice. Oh yeah, and there's a place up there called "Franz Joseph Land." It must be like a winter resort for rich Austrians where they enjoy figure skating and ice sculpting the busts of unhappy Hapsburgs. Essentially there's nothing up there. Although spending $8 -billion dollars for nothing does fall within the required spending guidelines of the federal government, why don't we take a pass on this one? Why don't we say we did, but don't? Seriously, why don't we say we built $8 -billion worth of nuclear submarines to protect the Canadian Arctic, but don't? They're submarines for gawdsakes! Who's going to know? We say we launched them at night to avoid an ugly confrontation by anti -nuke demonstrators. We say at Pangnirtung, Baffin Island. Nobody ever goes there and we can pay off six or seven people that live there. When the Queen comes over and wants to inspect our submarine fleet, we'll have some Pain -In -The -Rear . Admiral start hauling out scuba gear for "the Canadian Nuclear Navy is ever vigilant and stops for no man, not even a Queen." That'll be our motto. That or "Run Silent, Run Deep But For Chrissakes Keep Running!" This could be a real money maker. We could stick peroscopes in the ice and charge tourists to go up there and "watch ou Navy in action." Think of what it'll do for the Ontario economy. The submarine building con- tract will resurrect the entire ship building industry in Collingwood. J mean, if we can pay farmers not to raise beef and growers not to produce vegetables and the post office not deliver mail, isn't it time we paid Canadian ship- builders not to build submarines? And just to keep the media happy, about every six months we'll do what the Swedish submarine fleet does. We'll an- nounce that we have a Russian sub- marine cornered in one of our inland Arc* tic channels. We'll move the peroscopes around at night and pay civil servants to go up there and stand around, pointing and shouting "There it is! There it is!" In all of those reports about the Swedish navy trapping a Russian nuclear sub, have you ever seen one they caught? Come to think of it, except in a fuzzy photograph that could have been an ar- tist's rendition, have you ever seen a Swedish sub? See what I mean? It's working. Now if we can just design a nuclear bomber that flies so fast and so high that it's invisible to the naked eye and imper- vious to radar - I think weban get our en- tire defense budget down to the cost of some doctored photographs and a few life-threatening sound effects. Let's just say we did, -but don't. Former Goderich resident Karen Palmer, shown here with husband Marty Beachler and their dog, is making waves in the Toronto fashion industry with her company called Chameleon, which produces wardrobe accessories. Chameleon began three years ago under the direction of Palmer. Baechler has since joined the business. (photo by The Toronto Star) Festival plans $1.6 million expansion By David Emslie BLYTH - The Board of Directors of the Blyth Centre for the Arts revealed a $1.6 -million capital building project at a gala event at the Memorial Hall here on November 21. According to project co-ordinator, Lynda Lentz, this is the second major capital pro- ject the festival has undertaken. She noted that the campaign in 1979 saw expansion on the north side of the existing building, along with the addition of air conditioning, dress- ing rooms and a ramp for the' physically disabled. At this time the building was also upgraded to prevent fire hazards. "That debt was paid off in two years by the Board of Directors," Lynda said, adding they are a very hard working board. The current expansion is one of a much grander nature. What the plan calls for is' the purchase of the old bank building, which is now rented and used for the festival of- fices. A link between this building and memorial hall will also play a large part in the expansion. "This is all designed to meet a really critical shortage of technical facilities and rehearsal facilities," said Lynda. In the link will be a covered arcade for the box office, to allow patrons to stay out of the weather when waiting to purchase tickets. ,Also behind the bank building will be an art gallery. Lynda explained that each part of the ad- dition is important to the festival. Now without a stage right in the theatre, plays have to be changed to have everyone exiting to the left. "What we propose to do is have additional stage right space," she said. Another critical need, that for more rehearsal space, will also be met in the ex- pansion. Lynda explained this space is need- ed because at any one time in the summer, four rehearsal spaces are needed for children's workshops, youth workshops and new play workshops. She commented that the theatre is known from coast to coast as one of the best for new play development, as commissioned scripts are put through their workshop process. "What the result of our new play develop- ment program is, we not only improve the scripts on stage, but we even make an im- pact across the country," Lynda stated, ad- ding that on one day in November, four Blyth plays were playing across Canada. In order to keep up with the workshops, and re- tain their good reputation, the expansion is necessary. Currently, the theatre can have the set for a certain play set up only on the stage. With the added spate, a second, full set will be able to be set up elsewhere. Lynda noted, "This is a tremendous ad- vantage. If rehearsals can be on the (iden- tical) set, we'll get more polished performances." Aside from the changes to be made in the of the theatre, because as the plays get more sophisticated, the sets must also become more sophisticated. When work is being carried out on expan- ding the Dinsley Street garage, the current garage will also be upgraded. It will con- tinue to be used as rehearsal space. Basically, three committees are involved in the project. The working committee is composed of board members and people from the village community. The others are the building committee, and the corporate committee, headed by George Parsons of Goderich Electric. Expanding Blyth Festival space Plans for a capital building project for the Blyth Festival worth $1.6 million were an- nounced on November 21. The model for the proposed changes is on display at the Festival's administration office. Here, Lynda Lentz, project co-ordinator, points out a new link between the adminstration office and the Memorial Hall, while the Festival's General Manager, Tim Chapman looks on. (David Emslie photo) "This (the building project) is all designed to meet a really critical shortage of technical facilities and rehearsal facilities," Lynda Lentz, co-ordinator immediate vicinity of the memorial hall, ex- pansion will also take place at the existing garage which will allow space for a workshop where costumes, props and scenery can be made, and scenic painting can be carried out. Lynda noted this will allow for better in- tegration of the artistic and technical sides The building committee has been working on the project for approximately two years, carrying out a feasibility study to in- vestigate the future needs of the festival. After the feasibility study was completed, an architect search took place, and after ex- haustive research, Lynda said, Chris Borgal was chosen as the architect for the job. Lynda stated the final vote to go ahead received a unanimous affirmative vote from the board of directors. However, that vote is contingent on sufficient government funding becoming available to match private dona- tions. Presently, briefs are being submitted to both the federal and provincial govern- ments. The council for the Village of Blyth received the plans enthusiastically. Also adding her support to the project was internationally acclaimed writer, Alice Munro. Mrs. Munro agreed to act as honorary chairperson for the whole campaign. "The day I found that out was one of the highllghts,in two years, of a sometimes long struggle to see where we should go," Lynda said. Lynda pointed out that people, are welcome to stop at the, festival administra- tion office to view the plans. "There has been a steady stream of people coming in to look at the model. Everyone is as equally ex- cited as we are," she said. The plans for the expansion now call for work to start on the technical facility on Dinsley Street during the 1988 season. Before that time, however, fund raising will have to take place. Already, $10,000 was raised through pledges from the board of directors, festival staff and one corporate donation. The very first official fund raising event will take place on December 10 when the festival will be hosting a Wintario draw. This will be followed up by the very popular Medieval Feast at the hall on February 27. Lynda noted that there was a very op- timistic air about the project at the gala reception, and this feeling carried over into the next week. "It has really added fuel to our. fire. There is a long haul ahead, and it is good to sense the public support. It reflects their love for wh$t we put on the stage," she concluded.